1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices and methods for separation of ions from a neutral carrier fluid. More specifically, the invention relates to transfer of ions in a first carrier gas to a second carrier gas.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an application of Field Asymmetric Ion Mobility Spectroscopy (FAIMS), a sample gas is partially ionized and the ions in the ionized gas are separated according to each ion's mobility by application of an asymmetric electric field. In many situations, the neutral molecules or atoms in the carrier gas can reduce the ability of the FAIMS to fractionate the ions and can also contribute to a noise component in the detector electrode. Therefore, there remains a need for devices and methods that can transfer the ions in a first carrier gas to a second carrier gas.